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| References
- Testosterone, the brain and psyche |
9.
Goudsmit E, Filers E, Swaab DF. Changes in vasopressin
neurons and fibers in aging and Alzheimer's disease: reversibility
in the rat. Prog.Clin.Biol.Res. 1989;317:1193-208.
Abstract: The neuropeptide vasopressin (VP) is released from
the neurohypophysis into the circulation where it acts as
antidiuretic hormone on the kidney. In addition, VP is present
in nerve cells and fibers in several areas in the rodent and
primate brain where it acts as a neurotransmitter or neuromodulator.
In the human brain a marked decrease in total cell number
and VP cell number was observed in senescence in the suprachiasmatic
nucleus, the hypothalamic nucleus regulating circadian rhythms.
This degeneration was even more pronounced in Alzheimer's
disease (AD) and might be related to the disturbances in sleep-wake
cycle and endocrine rhythms which occur in this condition.
No degenerative changes were observed with aging or in AD
in the human hypothalamo-neurohypophyseal system (HNS); on
the contrary, total cell numbers remain unaltered and the
VP cells in this system are activated in senescence, probably
in compensation for decreased sensitivity of the kidney to
VP. It is proposed that this activation may prevent degeneration
of the VP cells in the HNS. The extrahypothalamic VP innervation
in the male rat brain was shown to be diminished in senescence
in a number of areas. This innervation, which was previously
shown to depend on plasma levels of sex-steroids, could be
restored in a number of brain structures by subcutaneous testosterone
administration to senescent male rats for one month. Reversibility
of changes in VP innervation in the senescent rat brain through
peripheral testosterone supplementation might open new possibilities
for the development of therapeutic strategies in age- related
disorders of the central nervous system
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